Slain Ariz. girl mourned

By Gillian Flaccus THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Thursday

Jan 13, 2011 at 10:33 PMJan 13, 2011 at 11:16 PM

The family of the youngest victim of the mass shooting in Arizona held hands and paused in a moment of silence today under the large American flag recovered from ground zero after the 9-11 attacks, and later escorted the 9-year-old's small brown casket into the church as little girls about her age cried.

Several hundred other mourners, many in white T-shirts, lined a road near the church to show support.

Christina Taylor Green was born on Sept. 11, 2001, and featured in a book called “Faces of Hope” that chronicled one baby from each state born on the day terrorists killed nearly 3,000 people. Christina's funeral was the first for the six victims killed when police said a gunman opened fired on a crowd at an event for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, critically injuring the congresswoman and wounding 13 others.

The third-grader had an interest in politics and had recently been elected to her student council. She was the only girl on her Canyon del Oro Little League baseball team and played second base, and had told her father she wanted to become the first woman to play in the major leagues.

The game was in her blood. Her dad is a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers and her grandfather, former big league pitcher Dallas Green, managed the 1980 world champion Philadelphia Phillies.

“She had the time to root for the Dodgers and the Phillies,” Bishop Gerald Kicanas said. “ ... a little girl with the wisdom of a wise woman. She wanted to make a difference in her life. She wanted to make her mark.”

Christina's father, John Green, spoke to the tearful crowd, including his 11-year-old son Dallas, who wiped tears away with the sleeve of his suit. “Christina Taylor Green,” he began, “I can't tell you how much we all miss you.”

“I think you have affected the whole country,” he said, according to the Arizona Daily Star.Generally, reporters were not allowed inside, but The Associated Press talked to several people who attended.

They said her father talked about the places the family had lived and traveled, and that he would always cherish coming home after long business trips.

Billy Joel's “Lullaby,” which begins “Goodnight, my angel, time to close your eyes,” was performed at the end.

During President Barack Obama's speech at a memorial Wednesday night, he spoke at length about Christina and reminded the audience that the third-grader's neighbor had brought her to meet Giffords because of her budding interest in democracy.

“She saw all this through the eyes of a child, undimmed by the cynicism or vitriol that we adults all too often just take for granted,” he said. “I want to live up to her expectations. I want our democracy to be as good as Christina imagined it. I want America to be as good as she imagined it.”

The girl had told her parents she wanted to attend Penn State and have a career that involved helping those less fortunate.

Before her funeral, cars were parked on both sides of the road, and traffic was backed up. Members of motorcycle groups from Arizona and California parked their bikes in a group. Several hundred people, many dressed in white T-shirts, stood silently along a road near the church. About 20 people were dressed as angels.

As the city mourned the little girl, more details and documents surfaced about the suspect, Jared Loughner. For four years, he was an unremarkable college student, commuting to classes near his home where he studied yoga and algebra, business management and poetry.

But last year, his classroom conduct began to change. In February, Loughner stunned a teacher by talking about blowing up babies, a bizarre outburst that marked the start of a rapid unraveling for the 22-year-old.

Fifty-one pages of police reports released Wednesday provided a chilling portrait of Loughner's last school year, which ended in September when he was judged mentally unhinged and suspended by Pima Community College.

Just three months before the shooting, Loughner had been kicked out of school.In a Sept. 23 campus police report, days before his suspension, an officer called to quiet another one of Loughner's outbursts described him as incomprehensible, his eyes jittery, his head awkwardly tilted.

“He very slowly began telling me in a low and mumbled voice that under the Constitution, which had been written on the wall for all to see, he had the right to his ‘freedom of thought' and whatever he thought in his head he could also put on paper. ... His teacher ‘must be required to accept it' as a passing grade,” the officer wrote.

“It was clear he was unable to fully understand his actions.”

During his first outburst, in a poetry class, he made comments about abortion, wars and killing people, then asked: “Why don't we just strap bombs to babies?”

Later, he became hostile with a Pilates instructor when he learned he was going to receive a B in the class.

According to school officials, Loughner studied at the college from the summer of 2005 to September, when he was suspended after campus police discovered a YouTube video in which Loughner claimed the college was illegal under to the U.S. Constitution.In all, he had five run-ins with police on two campuses.

Read-only cutline Dallas Green wipes away a tear while seated next to his father, John Green, and mother Roxanna Green during the funeral of his sister, 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green.

Read-only credit2THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Read-only cutline2Nicholas Darochkin and Ann Marie Kilargis of Tucscon, Ariz., hold each other at the funeral Thursday of Christina Taylor Green.

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